James e



UNiT'ED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

' JAMES E. HAMILTON, OF TWO RIVERS, WVISOONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO HAMIL- TON85 KATZ, OF SAME PLACE.

IIINTERCHANGEABLE CHART-FRAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 293,731, dated February19, 18 84.

Application filed November flfi, 18 83. (No model.)

To all whom it imry concern:

attached to said bottom bar.

it is allowed to settle down.

Be it known that I, JAMES E. HAMILTON, of Two Rivers, in the county ofManitowoc, and in the State of WVisconsin, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Interchangeable Chart-Frames for Teachers Use;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

. My invention relates to interchangeable chart-frames for teachers use,and will be fully described hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front perspective view of myinterchangeable chart-frame. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through centerof same, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 shows a modification of the frame,and Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a part of Fig. 3.

A A indicate the sides of the'frame, which may be made in any form andof any material desired, and may be suitably supported on its ownpedestal, or hung on a wall, or'placed in whatever position foundconvenient.

B is the top cross-bar, and B the bottom bar, and a suitable box, 0,or'drawer may be Parallel to said cross-bars B B, and fastened tothe-sides A at any distance from each other as will answer the purpose,are the block-bearing slats D D D. These slats have a groove, a, intheir upper edge, and a groove, a, in their lower edge. This last groovea is given double the depth of groove a. The space left between theslats is filled by the letter or picture blocks E E E, which are made ofany suitable material and of a length equal to the distance between thebottom of the groove a of a slat and of the groove a of the next slat,minus half the depth of the groove a, and the upper and lower edges ofthe letter blocks are slightly beveled on their rear face, to enablethem to fit loosely in said grooves a and a. To set theletter-blocks E EE in place between the slats D D, the upper edge of a block is firstinserted in the lower groove, a, and pressed upward to the bottom ofsaid groove, as shown at m, Fig. 2, the lower edge of the block beingthen pressed backward against the upper edge of the lower adjoiningslat, in the shallow groove a of which The flanges b,

formed by the grooves a and a on the rear of the slats, are extended upor down sufficiently to act as guides to direct the letter-blocks intosaid grooves.

Instead of the grooved slats D D. above described, I may use to supportthe letter-blocks E E a series of wires, D D, stretched across theframeand fastened therein in any suitable manner. This modification is shownin Fig, 3. In this case the letter-blocksE E are provided with thegrooves a a and a front extended flange, 12, corresponding to thegrooves stand a and the rear extended flange, b, of the slats D.

The letter-blocks D D, which may carry either letters, figures, orpictures thereon, printed, stenciled, embossed, or drawn, plain or incolors, are-kept in properly divided and labeled compartments of a box,0, or drawer attached to or separate from the chart-frame.

"Each of said blocks necessary to form thesentence or combination ofpictures or characters desired is taken out of its compartment andinserted, in turn, between'the slats D D or the wires D D. If any partofthe sentence or combination of figures thus formed has to be changed,the letter-blocks forming said part are taken out of the frame andreplaced in their respective compartments, and other blocks are insertedin their place in the frame to form the new word or the new combinationof characters. This can be renewed as often as desired, thus giving tothe teacher a practical and convenient means to almost infinitely varyhis chart-lessons. In the system of charts already in use ,in schools,there are features which present difficulties fully overcome by theintroduction of my interchangeable chartframe. By daily seeing andreading from a chart, the wording or combination of which is fixed ornot changeable, the scholar learns the chart by heart, without learningto spell the words, so that the teacher finds great difficulty inbringing his pupils to recognize a given character in any position orcombination differing from that of the chart. The difficulty must beovercome by the use of the blackboard, and as this is a means themajority of teachers are not very familiar with, it follows that inmostcases the obstacle remains.

IOI)

of word-charts at his disposition and still, in a number of instances,subjects will present themselves which will oblige him to use theblackboard. In both cases the use of my interchangeable chart-frame doesaway with the difficulty.

Though my frame is especially adapted to teachers use, my inventionapplies as well to other purposes, such as sign-boards for stores,restaurants, theaters, &c. It may be used, also, as a toy or game forchildrens or adults use.

I am aware that heretofore chart-frames have been constructed adaptedfor use with interchangeable letter, figure, or symbol blocks, andprovided with transverse supports for retaining said blocks in positionin such manner that they may be removed therefrom, either all togetheror independently, and such, therefore, I do not broadly claim as of myinvention; but, so far as I am aware, I am the first to provide thecontiguous edges of each block and its supports, above and below, withhorizontal grooves of unequal depth, in conjunction with front and rearflanges or surfaces on either side of said grooves, and also of unequaldepth or height, and formed either in and on the transverse supports, orin and on the blocks themselves, as preferred, whereby my blocks can beindependently added to or taken from the frame in the manner described,and when in position held by means of said contiguous edges, flanges,and grooves.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an interchangeable chart-frame, the

combination of the side bars, AA, and top and bottom bars, 13 B, forminga skeleton frame, with'the transverse supports D and the letter orsymbol blocks E E, the contiguous surfaces of the parts D and E beingheld together by means of horizontal grooves in one of them receivingtheedges of the other, both above and below, and each alternate groovebeing of different depth from the groove immediately above and thegroove immediately below it, whereby every block E shall be firmly heldat its upper and lower edge, and yet be capable of re-' moval,interchange, or replacement without disturbing the block on either sideof it, substantially as set forth.

2. In an interchangeable chart-frame, the combination of the skeletonframe A A B B, the base 0, forming part of the frame, and divided intocompartments to retain the letterblocks, the transverse supports D, andthe blocks E E, substantially as set forth.

3. In an interchangeable chart-frame, the combination of the skeletonframe A A B B and the transverse supports D, having rear extendedflanges, b, of greater height or depth than theirfront flanges, andhaving between said front and rear flanges the shallow grooves a and thedeeper grooves a, with the letter or symbol blocks E E, substantially asset forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, atTwo Rivers, in the county of Manitowoc and State of Viscousin, in thepresence of two witnesses.

' JAMES E. HAMILTON.

\Vitnesses:

B. F. Rioirrnn, L. MANN.

